MTA's Subway Service Alert Posters Get Fresh New Look

By DNAinfo Staff on September 9, 2010 1:00pm

The redesigned subway service change posters will hit train stations on Thursday, September 16th, according to the MTA.View Full Caption

MTA New York City Transit

By Olivia Scheck

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

MANHATTAN — Subway service might not be getting any better, but the signage used to inform you of your ruined travel plans should soon improve.

The MTA will unveil a “fresh, new look” for the familiar orange and blue service change posters beginning next Thursday.

Straphangers can expect a less cluttered layout from the new posters with a white background and “a clean, bright appearance,” the authority said in a statement.

The new design will also consolidate all route changes on a single sheet, separating weekday and weekend information and delineating day and night changes through easy-to-understand sun and moon icons.

Asked why the MTA didn’t upgrade to a digital display system, opting instead for the paper signs which must be reposted each week, New York City Transit spokesman Charles F. Seaton said, “It would be difficult to display all that information on a digital display.”

The new signs will not feature the "Why is service being changed?" section, which often featured unhelpful information like "We are making signal improvements."View Full Caption

Flickr/Johnnie Utah

Seaton confirmed that a private consulting group was hired to perform market research in connection to the signage redesign.

In a related change, the MTA will focus on placing the signs outside of turnstiles and at subway entrances, when there is no service at a particular station, to save riders from accidentally swiping MetroCards or unnecessarily walking down stairs, according to the statement.

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